


The One with the Freebie List

by fallingfromdisgrace



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Actor!Peter, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista!Lydia, Barista!Stiles, Douchebag!Jackson, F/M, Friends references, Good Peter, M/M, Multi, Referenced Animal Attacks, Referenced Past Trauma, actor!derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 14:43:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3814354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingfromdisgrace/pseuds/fallingfromdisgrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a crowd of unruly teenage girls force heart throb actors, Peter and Derek Hale, into Lydia's coffee shop the last thing she expects is for Peter to declare himself an employee. And work. For no money.<br/>Did Lydia mention she's a fan?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One with the Freebie List

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is a thing I thought up when I was trying to get to sleep and just couldn't get it out of my head, it basically started with, 'if Ian Bohen is on my list, who is on his?'  
> so yeah, 7k later I still dont have an answer but i know who would be on Peter Hale's list ;)  
> ~fallingfromdisgrace

Owning a coffee shop called Central Perk in New York might have been one of the best decisions Lydia had ever made. The steady stream of student who used it as a place to study kept her busy, along with the small army of people who came by every day for their daily caffeine fix.

Her shop was decorated just like the one in Friends, she wasn’t ashamed to admit, one thing that was different though, was the small TV screen that constantly played episodes of the classic sitcom.

The episode playing now was ‘The One With Frank Jr.’ and Lydia was paying attention to it out of the corner of her eye as well as taking peoples order and trying to talk to Jackson. She’d been out with him a few times and now he used that as an excuse to hang around and try and get free drinks from her. Well he could dream on.

Just as she was finishing ringing up the last person in the line Jackson started moaning about how she never paid any attention to him.

Rolling her eyes Lydia turned to him and said “Maybe because you keep bothering me when I’m busy hmm?”

Jackson snorted. “Yeah right busy, all you do is watch Friends episodes all day, how hard can it be?”

The other barista on shift today, Stiles, glared over at Jackson. Lydia couldn’t help but empathise with Stiles; she was regretting ever going out with him more as each day passed.

Sighing Lydia bent over the counter, placing her head in her hands, eyes focused on the screen. They were just explaining what a ‘Freebie List’ was when Stiles nudged her.

“Who’s on your list then?” His eyes were bright with humour and it appeared the good mood was catching because soon she was smiling too.

“That’s for me to kno-” She began.

“You must be kidding me, how can you not know? It’s Peter Hale. All five options. He is the list. Only him.” Jackson rolled his eyes, “I’ve had to watch that show where’s he’s the villain twice now. She even left dinner early so she wouldn’t miss the season four premiere. There is serial killer creepy and then there’s Lydia’s obsession with Peter Hale.”

It was like being hit by a bolt of lightning. Suddenly Jackson no longer appealed to her. It didn’t surprise her. This revelation had been a long time coming. She doesn’t know whether it was the fact that underneath his model good looks he was clearly a piece of shit human being or that he disrespected her at every turn. No, she was lying, she knew why. He’d just revealed her stupid twelve year old girl crush on an actor to Stiles, and even though he wouldn’t judge she was still embarrassed.

She also wanted Jackson gone. Now.

“Maybe you should leave. Like now.”

Stiles stopped wiping down mugs at her serious, take no shit tone, and reached under the counter. When she’d hired him, straight out of college, there had been a lot of robberies where the thieves had forced their way around the counter of small businesses and taken the contents of the till. Stiles, as a precaution had bought an aluminium baseball bat and kept it under the counter. Even though the threat of the robbers had gone, Stiles had no problem with wielding it at problematic customers every now and then.

Lydia watched Jackson as his eyes were drawn to Stiles; he also knew what was under there.

He rolled his eyes and stood up, his stool scraping loudly against the wooden floor.

“Fine, whatever,” he looked directly at Lydia, smirking, “you’ll come back, trust me. Who else you gonna go to, eh? Peter Hale?” He snorted. “Yeah right he wouldn’t take you if you begged. You need to live in the real world Lyds.”

He reached the door by this point, “You know where to find me.” With that he left.

Hopefully forever.

Lydia doesn’t even know what she saw in him.

 _Why am I attracted to assholes?_ She wondered, her eyes already stinging, she rubbed at them angrily.

“Lydia? You okay?” Stiles voice filtered into her awareness and she looked him over. He was holding onto the bat tightly, his knuckles were white, but his face held nothing but compassion for her. She really had dropped lucky with him.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she replied, a small smile on her face, “I’m just gonna go and make more of the muffins, we’re running low. Shout me if we get busy again.” And then she practically ran to the kitchen.

It as a weak excuse she knew, Stiles would know she was hiding, but she didn’t care.

She was furious. Why did she only go for assholes? Her type seemed to be people who would break her heart and then sweep it to one side as if she was nothing. Looking back at her relationship history it was all the same story. They were all beautiful and handsome, of course, but they were such _bad people_. Aiden? Check. Matt? Check. Jackson? Double check. It was the same thing over and over again. It was emotionally and physically exhausting and Lydia was giving up. There was no shame in it after all; she would just stop putting herself out there. Try and wait for someone nicer to come by.

With this new resolution she finally wiped the few tears off her face that had escaped and started on the cakes. They were her favourite part of the job, as much as she loved the feeling of accomplishment when a large crowd had finally been served and she knew that everyone got just what they wanted. Nothing compared to putting on some music and dancing around the small kitchen just baking. Usually if it was after work Stiles would join her, if she was on the right shift. He said he was helping her when really all he did was sit on one of the stools, make sure there was always good music on and taste test some new recipes. It was nice.

But now, dancing around the room to various Beyoncé songs, don’t judge, she couldn’t find it in her to be upset over everything.

In fact, when she emerged with two dozen chocolate muffins, still cooling they were that fresh, she was practically happy. She didn’t see Jackson as a bad ending, just the beginning of something new.

And if she thought over what he’d said about her not being good enough and slightly believed it. Well, that was going to be her little secret.

*****

After shift that day Stiles had invited her back to his place, not for anything like _that_ , he’d assured her with a wink. He’d just pulled out the season’s one, two and three (both parts) boxset of _Teen Wolf_. The very show where Peter Hale played the charming Ian Bohen, a charming Alpha werewolf who’d had a breakdown after the death of his family. He’d killed the people responsible and even turned a few before he’d been killed off in the first season. The writers had bought him back in season two however, this time as a beta that helped the new pack every now and then. Mostly he sat and made sarcastic comments and Lydia just couldn’t help but love him just a little bit. The fact he was hot like burning obviously helped as well.

She looked up at Stiles, eyebrow quirking questioningly.

“I am impartial to Derek Hale myself,” he admitted, “But I don’t judge either way.”

Lydia just threw her head back and laughed.

*****

That night had been the best she’d had in a long time. They’d marathoned all of season one, drinking bottle after bottle of wine.

They’d criticised the plot holes and Stiles had even ranted about how unfair life was to Derek Hale’s character, Tyler. He’d even said it was weird how they hadn’t drawn on the fact that Peter and Derek were related in real life and made them related in the show. Something Lydia always thought was a shame considering they’d made them ‘family friends’ instead.

They’d both taken cheesy Buzzfeed quizzes asking what supernatural creature they’d be. Stiles was upset at first to find he would be human, but then accepting it with a shrug, saying he’d just use his baseball bat to beat people up. Lydia had been slightly shocked to find she would be a banshee; the only one on the show was a creepy little girl who had appeared to raise Ian from the dead and then had left. Lydia shrugged it off, winking at Stiles and saying it was probably because she was a screamer. Stiles had fallen off the couch he was laughing that much.

The conversation turned serious as Ian’s death scene approached. It got to Lydia every time. Sure he did bad things but he just wanted revenge for his family, at the end of the day, who could blame him?

Lydia’s eyes filled with tears as Tyler ripped out Peter’s/Ian’s throat, she knew it wasn’t real but it didn’t seem to matter. She still cried every time.

She looked over at Stiles and found his eyes were also brimming.

“I hate this stupid show,” he muttered drunkenly, wiping his eyes.

They both knew it was a lie. They both loved the show, despite all its flaws. Stiles suggested that they would do this every month, maybe even marathon other series as well. Lydia, in her drunken state suggested they make it a full moon thing.

That was how Lydia’s full moons were booked from now until forever. Lydia couldn’t care less.

*****

It was two weeks after the full moon where they had watched season two and, as unfortunately they only sold baked goods at Central Perk, Stiles had left during a lull to grab some sandwiches for him and Lydia. After all, baristas cannot live on cake alone.

She was wiping down the counter when the door opened and slammed just as quickly. Two men, one dressed in a black V-neck and dark blue jeans, the other wearing a forest green Henley and insanely tight jeans rush towards the counter. Both were wearing baseball hats pulled down over their heads and Lydia held in a scream as they advanced. Just as she thought they were about to attack her they dove over the counter and fled into the kitchen.

Lydia took a deep breath, calming slightly before looking around at the customers sat down, wondering if she’d just imagine that. The group of five students were all focused on their laptops and the three business men hadn’t even looked up from their newspapers. Lydia could see lots of people run by the window; some even glanced in, obviously looking for something. Probably the people that were currently hiding in her kitchen.

Sighing and grabbing Stiles’ baseball bat she marched into the kitchen, ready to see what was happening. In the back of her mind she’d wished she’d worn something more concealing than her short blue skirt that would be useless if she had to fight some criminals. Oh well, maybe she could distract them by flashing her attacker.

When she got in the back room she found no one.

She cleared her throat, “Hello?”

“Are they still out there?” a smooth voice asked from behind her, startling her. Lydia knew the voice but she didn’t believe it. She whirled around and dropped the bat in surprise.

Derek Hale stood in front of her. He had removed the baseball hat and he had a slightly terrified look in his eyes.

“Please tell me they’re gone,” he practically begged her, running his hand through his hair.

“What are you doing here? Where’s the other person?” Lydia asked, jus remembering that he hadn’t been alone. She bent down and scooped the bat off the floor.

“I’m here, don’t worry we’re not thieves,” a second voice reassured her from behind. Oh _dear lord_.

She turned, gripping the bat even harder.

“We’re just actors who ran into a spot of bother.” Peter Hale stood in front of her.

 _Oh god_ , the camera hadn’t done him justice. He was almost a head taller than she was. His broad shoulders stretched the V-neck he was wearing, revealing his collarbones, glistening with sweat, as if he’d been running for a long time.

Hold on.

Looking over both the men again she noticed the red flush on both their cheeks and the deep breaths they were both taking.

“You guys okay?” she asked. She had common courtesy after all.

“Yeah, we’re go-” Derek was cut off as the bell to the shop jingled, signalling a new customer. In fact, a lot of customers if the slight buzzing noise was anything to go by.

“Oh my god,” Derek looked close to crying, “get _rid of them._ ”

Lydia raised her eyebrow at him, he may be a famous actors but he could do with learning some manners.

Peter grabbed her arm just above the elbow and Lydia felt a rush go through her at the contact.

“What my nephew means it that it would be beneficial, to both you and us, if you could get rid of the crowd of crazed fans that is currently congregating in your coffee shop.” He smiled and Lydia could only nod. He let go of her and Lydia handed him the bat.

She headed towards the door, stopping to pour two glasses of water for the men. What? She wasn’t a savage. She would do it for anyone, or that was what she was trying to tell herself.

The bell that sat on top of the counter began ringing.

Taking a deep breath Lydia walked out of the kitchen. She was faced with a literal crowd, Peter hadn’t been exaggerating. There could easily be at least forty people all cramped into her shop. The one nearest the counter seemed to be acting as a spokesperson.

“Hey,” he began in a greasy tone that made Lydia want to have at least five showers, “have you seen two men wearing dark colours run past?”

“Considering I was in the back, let’s go with no,” she smiled back at him.

He frowned, “are they hiding back there?”

Lydia rolled her eyes, “No.”

“What’s back there that’s so interesting then huh?” He sneered.

Lydia leant across the counter and whispered, voice sickly sweet, “A baseball bat if you aren’t careful sweetheart.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Lydia could see his eyes dart between the edge of the counter and the door, probably wondering how fast he could do it, whether he would make it or not. He wouldn’t.

Lydia shook her hair out behind her head, “Want me to go check for lurking men?” She asked the crowd.

They all nodded enthusiastically. Lydia rolled her eyes internally. Nerds

She walked back into the kitchen, Derek was looking at her furiously, he was pointing to door almost aggressively.

She headed straight for Peter, grabbing the bat from him. His face was set in a small smile, as if he knew what she was doing.

She leant in and murmured, “Be right back.”

She headed into the front just to see Stiles struggling to get through the door way.

“No men,” she announced, “but I did find this, as promised.” She let it rest on one shoulder, looking straight at the man at the front. “Now if you aren’t ordering coffee from this fine establishment you will find my colleague, Stiles, is already holding the door open for you to leave. So please, don’t stay.”

The man at the front gave the kitchen door one disappointed look before turning around. Slowly they filtered out. Some people buying bottles of water, no wonder really, you probably build up quite the thirst when you’re chasing two men around the streets of New York. However unpleasant the thoughts that were directed at them were, Lydia smiled at every customer until they were all gone. She was nothing if not professional. Stiles ran around the counter and almost threw her sandwich at her.

“Dude, what the hell just happened? Were we just flash mobbed? Where did they come from? What did they want? _Dude_ ,” Stiles finally came up for air and look her over, “But you handled it so well, like well done. I can almost see the headlines now, Lydia Martin: No Shits Given. You should write a book. ‘When the Coffee Crowd Goes Bitter’ would be a bestseller. No doubt about it.”

Lydia laughed, “Oh my god, Stiles, calm down.” She glanced towards the back room, a plan coming into her head, “you should see what they wanted, or _who_ they wanted.” She nodded her head towards the kitchen.

She could practically see the gears grinding in his head, trying to work out who was back there. Lydia put up the piece of cardboard that read ‘Lunch, back in ten :)’ (Stiles’ own creation) across the counter and then pushed him towards the back room.

“Come on, there’s someone you need to meet.” She laughed.

They had barely got through the door before Stiles was being tackled by the huge mass that was Derek Hale. Derek was literally crushing Stiles in a bear hug and murmuring ‘thank you’ under his breath, over and over again.

Stiles just stared straight ahead in shock.

“What,” he said.

Lydia just laughed more, “Stiles Stilinski, speechless? This is a first.”

Derek took a deep breath and finally released Stiles, and then he seemed to remember himself.

“Uh, yeah, umm… thanks, or whatever,” he said gruffly. He looked Stiles up and down and Lydia could see he wasn’t disappointed by what he saw.

Maybe this could be a thing for them, Lydia wondered.

If only Stiles could speak instead of standing there looking like he was trying to impersonate a fish, he was just stood there, slowly opening and closing his mouth like he didn’t know what to say.

Lydia found it was easier to talk to them as if they were just any other people who had wandered in. Well, she still might find it hard to talk to Peter, but it was pretty impossible to still be star struck over Derek Hale after witnessing what was almost a full mental breakdown.

“You’re welcome,” Lydia said for him, “so, wanna explain what that was?” she asked, pulling up a chair.

Unfortunately for Lydia’s heart rate Peter was the one who took it upon himself to tell the tale.

“Well, I’m Peter Hale and that bag of sunshine and rainbows over there is Derek, my nephew. We’re actors on this show, it’s very small and you’d probably think it’s silly actually,” he paused and smiled at her, Lydia didn’t bother correcting him; he’d only think she was another crazed fan. “but, as you can see it has a very, uh, _loyal_ fan base. So, would you believe it, me and my dearest nephew over there were out shopping when a group of Teen Wolf fans descended. Some were more, uh, _bold_ than the others and we soon realised that we had to run or face being groped by too many twenty-somethings to count.” He shuddered.

Lydia rolled her eyes.

“So,” Peter said, dipping low into a bow, “we are eternally grateful.”

Lydia snorted.

Peter was suddenly right in front of her, leaning closer, “and I would anything to make it up to you,” he murmured.

And-

Did his eyes just flash to Lydia’s mouth?

Probably not. Nope.

“Well,” she said, standing up, “my name is Lydia, I own the place. And I guess you’ll just have to owe me one won’t you? Stiles, you have another twenty minutes of your lunch left honey,” her eyes flashed to Derek, “use it well for god’s sake, okay?”

Stiles just turned red and then nodded quickly. Lydia couldn’t help but notice a smirk appear on Derek’s face as his eyes followed the blush down Stiles’ neck.

Well, at least Derek was getting with the programme.

When she was back out front she removed the sign and started wiping down the counter again. Really, she doesn’t know why they do it that much, the counter is probably the cleanest thing in the entire shop, but she supposed it makes them look busy. She was just going to dry the clean mugs when there was a crash by her feet. Looking down she found Peter, sat with his back to the counter, clutching the baseball bat again.

Closing her eyes she sighed. Loudly.

“Do I even want to know?” She asked.

“Well, they were thickening up the air with their UST so I figured I should give them some privacy and also help you man the fort.” He grinned up at her.

“And you’d thought you’d do that by crawling across the floor because?”

“I wasn’t sure if all the people had left.” He admitted.

Lydia stopped what she was doing for a second. “Does it really bother you that much?” she wondered aloud, “I mean, what’s the problem with them?”

“The problem is that I just wanted a day out with family,” Peter replied, voice serious, “and now I’m stuck behind the counter of a coffee shop, after being chased by a group of people who claim to be my ‘number one fan’” his voice turned mocking. Lydia felt her heart sink, if he found out she liked his show he’d probably run for his life. Again. “I suppose it isn’t all too bad,” he continued thoughtfully.

“Hmm, why’s that?” Lydia asked, rearranging the syrup bottles.

“I do believe that my nephew and your colleague have hit it off,” he smiled, now he was hugging the bat, “and I can confidently state that when I decided I wanted a few new shirts this morning I never could’ve imagined being saved by such an interesting woman.”

“You could hardly call what I did ‘saving’, more like I stood there as you took cover,” she corrected him.

“Fine, I never could’ve imagined _meeting_ such an interesting woman.” Peter replied sarcastically.

“Are you seriously sassing me right now?” She wondered aloud.

“I wouldn’t dream of it baby.”

She glanced down at him sharply but he didn’t seem to realise what he’d said. So she let it go.

“So, how does a woman in her mid-twenties end up owning and running, quite expertly I might add, her own coffee shop?”

Lydia bent down, reaching for the baseball bat once more, “not so fast, sweetheart. You have to be at friendship level five to unlock my backstory.”

When she was walking into the back room to break up the love birds, bat already lying on her shoulders, she heard him reply.

“I guess I’ll just have to level up then.”

*****

They stayed the rest of the day, both baristas sat on stools behind the counter while the actors sat under it, shielded from view.

The day continued on as normal, only now there were three other people to talk to, instead of one. Derek seemed absolutely smitten with Stiles, Lydia was pleased to report, so she took and made most of the orders to give them more time to talk and get to know each other.

Maybe Stiles would get his number. Maybe not. Oh well, Lydia could dream.

Peter pretty much ignored her after she had emerged from the kitchen with Stiles and Derek, she took it as a sign of his losing interest. She wasn’t really surprised, Jackson was right. She wasn’t really that appealing.

It was nearing the end of the day; she was calling out an order of a medium latte with two pumps of vanilla for James when she felt a hand graze her ankle.

Looking down she saw that Peter had his hand almost wrapped around her ankle. She handed the coffee over to the man who approached the pickup bay while trying to subtly get her foot out of his grasp.

As soon as the man had left the shop Lydia turned on Peter.

“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed.

“Just looking at your anklet,” he stated.

“Do you look with your hands?” she asked sarcastically, wondering why he wasn’t letting her go.

“You keep moving,” he said, almost whining really.

Lydia stood still patiently while Peter examined each charm that was attached to the chain wrapped around her ankle. Most of the charms were pretty normal, like the ruby heart, or the silver ‘L’.

The only one that would stand out was a beautifully crafted silver wolf. It’s eyes were jet black and its face was poised in a howl. Peter examined that one for the longest amount of time.

“I’m guessing there’s a story behind this one,” he murmured, sounding almost put out about it.

“Yes.”

“Level five?” He asked.

“Level five,” Lydia agreed.

“Okay then,” Peter squared his shoulders and Lydia wasn’t quite sure what had happened, all she knew was Peter now had a determined glint in his eyes that only mean bad things for her.

*****

The day finally ended with Stiles blushing as Derek pressed a piece of paper, one that Lydia highly suspected had a phone number on it, into his hands.

She smiled at them, hoping Derek wasn’t dicking around and was being seriously about liking Stiles. She didn’t see why anyone wouldn’t but what does she know anyway?

Peter grabbed her arm again and asked about the opening times of the shop.

Confusedly she told him that she got in at about half five in the morning to set up, but that the shop would be officially open at six.

He nodded and then released her, and walked away, practically dragging Derek with him.

*****

Peter came the next day. He was there when Lydia was opening the shop up.

One minute she was struggling with her keys, hair falling in front of her face, the next thing she knew he was stood there. She had swept her hair behind her ear and then noticed a figure stood next to her.

He'd been smiling like he lived to see her struggle with the lock.

After another five minutes of trying to turn the lock she looked up at him again.

“Fancy putting those big muscles to use?” She nodded towards the door.

Peter straightened up, smiling at her.

He stepped forward and took the keys out of her hands. She took one step to the left, folding her arms.

He smirked at her and then just twisted his wrist and the door unlocked. He bent down and picked Lydia's bag up, holding open the door and gesturing her through.

“After you,” he said, radiating smugness.

Lydia stalked into the shop, muttering about conceited actors under her breath.

Peter followed her around the counter, looking like an eager puppy and Lydia couldn't help but smile at him. He put her bag under the counter and turned to her smiling.

“So, what can I do to help?”

Lydia nodded towards the tables and chairs, still stacked from the night before.

“Set the tables up while I started on the cakes okay?”

He saluted her in a way that so she didn't know if it was sarcastic or not. She stood there for a second, puzzling over it in her mind before noticing what was going on in front of her. More specifically Peter's arm, muscles as he set each chair down and pushing it under the table.

What was she-? Oh, right. Muffins.

She walked into the back, placing her phone in the docking station as she went, then turning on her favourite playlist.

Once the oven was preheated she started on the mix. She was just whisking the batter, and swaying her hips to Beyoncé’s Green Light, when someone cleared their throat behind her.

She looked over her should to find Peter stood awkwardly in the doorway.

“Finished?” He nodded. She pointed to three muffin trays, “can you line those please?”

“Of course, baby,” he murmured and again it didn’t seem like he noticed what he’d said, so she let it go. Although what Stiles constantly said about two being a coincidence flashed in the back of her mind.

Speaking of Stiles… he should really be here by now.

She poked her head out into the main shop area but there was still no one there.

On her way back to the batter she bumped into Peter, she was falling back, almost landing flat on her ass before Peter grabbed around the waist and full on _french dipped_ her.

They stood like that for a few seconds longer until Lydia had had enough. There was only so much stress she could take in on day, and being pressed chest to chest to motherfricking _Peter Hale_ pretty much filled up the quota.

“You can set me down now if you want,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, yeah,” he took a step back from her and rubbed the back of his neck, almost awkwardly. “If you’re looking for Stiles by the way, he’s not coming in today.”

“What?” She was beginning to lose her patience.

“Him and Derek are the spending the day together,” he said with a wink, “so I’m here to keep you company and assist in any way I can.”

Lydia refrained from rolling her eyes. This was going to be a long day.

[It wasn’t actually too bad. Peter proved himself quite adept at working the espresso machine and he could even do little patterns in the foam. Lydia was impressed at how quickly he picked up the skills before he confessed that he’d worked in a coffee shop to pay his way through college.]

*****

Lydia didn't understand what was happening. After the first day Peter just kept showing up, even when Stiles returned from Lydia was referring to as the ‘honeymoon’. He'd help around the shop, even serving people's orders when Lydia was too busy.

It was just puzzling. It wasn't like the help he provided was _unwelcome_ considering he didn't ask to be paid. But if he insisted on trying to do anything more complicated than make a coffee or put a muffin on a plate again Lydia might scream.

(The first attempt to impress her involved making cookies. It had involved a lot of grunting, the use of pornographic forearms and Lydia being struck dumb as Peter fed her some of the dough. With his hands.)

The second week was more of the same apart from the fact that he decided he wanted to _dress_ the part.

And that's how Lydia found herself faced with the obscene sight of Peter Hale dressed in all black in a button down shirt, sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons undone, and tight black suit pants.

When Lydia had just stood there and stared at him he'd sent a cocky grin her way.

“I felt, since I'll be here a while, I should wear the uniform Stiles does.” He said, looking proud of himself, “don't I look good?” He asked, twirling around.

Lydia just nodded and then stalked into the kitchen.

She wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that Central Perk didn't have a uniform.

*****

Her shifts at Central Perk only got more enjoyable. Every day that past saw Lydia opening up to Peter more. Their jokes became more flirty, the touches less innocent.

Lydia didn’t know what to do. Obviously she liked him, that was a no brainer.

But how did he feel?

That was the question that kept her up at night.

She didn’t want to be one of _those_ girls. The ones who let themselves be used by celebrities and then are tossed out like yesterday’s news.

Don’t do anything about it then, she thought, ignore it.

Her heart wasn’t really in that decision, but it would have to deal.

*****

Things only seemed to get worse from there. During her walk to work she noticed people staring at her, nut just glancing or watching her walk by, they were full on _staring_ at her and it was making her feel uneasy.

Peter was there as usual already holding out his hands for the keys. They set up the shop in silence; Peter was shooting nervous looks her way, as if he was waiting for her to start shouting. It didn’t make any sense.

Only when Stiles came in, raving about unfair journalism, did she finally understand what was happening.

There she was, her head thrown back in laughter, all over page six of the New York post.

The headline read; Who _is_ she?

Phrases jumped out at her from the page, ‘Peter hale, New York resident and eligible bachelor, has been seen lurking in the innocuous coffee shop, Central Perk.’ ‘The mystery woman, pictured above, has seemed to have grabbed the attention of the actor and rumours suggest he’s spending most days working behind the counter, alongside his leading lady.’ ‘Hale, known for his long list of conquests seems to be willing to do anything to land this beauty.’

The article’s last line is the one that stuck in her head though; ‘Whether this coffee shop love will last however, is unknown. Maybe Hale will finally settle or leave Ms. Central Perk last in a long line of bitter exes.’

Lydia’s eyes were stinging and she was hearing a ringing in her ears. This was exactly what she’d wanted to _avoid_.

She didn’t even want to look at Peter’s face anymore, too hurt by the betrayal she felt. Did he really think of her like that?

“I, uh, I’ll be back here,” she almost ran to the kitchen and collapsed, leaning her back against one of cupboards, letting her head fall dejectedly into her hands.

The door swung open and quiet footsteps made their way across the tile floor towards her.

A weight settled next to her right arm and she could practically feel the hesitance radiating from them.

“You know I don’t think of you in that way, don’t you?” Peter whispered, like breaking the silence would set her off. Lydia never felt more pathetic. She just wanted to go home.

“Lydia, talk to me. Please.” He begged.

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t though. It was clear in the way her voice broke, the way her shoulders sagged, the way she still couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.

“No, you’re not, and that’s fine. They shouldn’t have wrote such horrible words against you, I-,” Peter took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

Lydia knew he was trying to comfort her but it just made her feel even worse.

“It’s not your fault.”

Peter wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head. “It feels like it is.”

Lydia relaxed into his arms, just letting herself be held. That didn’t stop the tears from finally falling.

*****

They spent most of the day on the kitchen floor, Stiles having called Derek in for back up to help out at the front.

This left Peter and Lydia free to talk about almost anything. It was like a damn had broken between them and now she felt confident that he wouldn’t judge her, at least.

So they wasted the day away talking about everything, and nothing at the same time. After all, none of it meant anything.

It was around six o’clock and Lydia could hear Stiles trying to shuffle everyone out when she thought about it again. She’d just shifted again when her anklet had caught the light and also her attention.

She could tell him now, right?

“The wolf,” she began, shaking her ankle to show what she meant. Peter froze beside her but she carried on anyway. “When I lived back home, in California, our town was on the edges of a huge nature preserve. I was at a winter formal and I was obsessing over where my boyfriend at the time was,” she wiped her eyes. “It seems really silly now, but one of his friends told me that he’d headed into the preserve, on the one of the trails, so I followed him. I was attacked in the woods.” She was barely whispering now, remembering how the fear had gripped her, how everything was _too dark_. “They said it was a mountain lion. I didn’t really think it was, it looked more canine, like a wolf. But it only mauled my side,” she touched the spot unconsciously; on the left of her stomach, where the scars were still visible. “I was lost in the woods for three days. They found me curled up under a huge oak tree, bleeding out. I was so doped on pain killers for the next few weeks that I can hardly remember anything else. After I graduated high school I moved to the city, to get away from the woods and all the bad memories that came with them. So this,” she picked up the charm. “This just reminds me what my counsellor used to say; ‘when you’re going through hell, _keep going_.’”

She’d been nearly crying for the whole thing but now the tears spilled over again.

“Oh Lydia,” Peter pulled her close to him. “It’s okay baby, it’s okay.”

And strangely enough, it was.

*****

The days following that were better. Other local tabloids had also picked up on the ‘story’ (Lydia uses that word liberally), and also had articles written. Along with more picture of her.

Peter just laughed them off; he was obviously used to the attention.

“Ridiculous,” he snapped one morning.

Lydia looked up to find him reading one of the local magazines that were dropped off weekly.

“What’s so ridiculous?”

“In here they say that ‘the stunning ginger barista has piercing hazel eyes that would catch anybody’s attention’,” He laughed.

Lydia’s heart sank, “and you think that’s ridiculous.”

“Yes, your hair is _strawberry blonde_ and you have _green_ eyes.” he looked slightly proud of himself. “The rest I can’t argue with though.”

Lydia rolled her eyes, frustrated more at herself than she was at Peter.

She always forgot about his fame in times like this. He was so relaxed around her that it did just seem that he strolled into the shop one morning and ordered coffee, like a normal, albeit _gorgeous_ , guy would, and that was how they met.

But that didn’t happen.

Peter wasn’t a normal guy, not by any meaning of the word. He was from a completely different world than she was. She was probably just something to pass the time to him. A bit of fun he’d have before his supermodel girlfriend got back from somewhere exotic and more exciting than here.

Lydia just had to remember that.

“Yo, Peter,” Stiles called out. He and Derek were officially a thing now, and Lydia couldn’t be more pleased. Stiles had got on with both men, winning them over with bad puns and his sarcastic comments. He was pointing to the TV where, _oh for god’s sake_ , where _that_ episode of Friends was playing.

The one with the freebie list.

“So, since you’re a celebrity and all, who’s on your list? Are you even allowed one? Or is it a rule that you can’t have one?”

Peter just laughed. “I don’t have a list Stiles.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he grinned widely, showing teeth, “when I am in a relationship I am completely monogamous, despite what the tabloids say about me.”

Lydia couldn’t help but feel that the last line was directed at her and when she glanced up Peter was looking at her.

She could feel her face heating up.

“Whatever Peter, see you guys later.” Stiles went out the door for his lunch date with Derek.

Peter was still looking at her, leaning his back against the wall just beyond the espresso machine.

She was just turning to get more milk from the fridge when the door banged open.

“Oh my _god_ , it’s true!” a voice called out.

Lydia stopped mid step; she could not deal with Jackson right now.

She turned slowly and saw Peter looking between her and Jackson with a worried look on her face.

“What’s true?” he asked.

“You know,” Jackson continued, stalking forward as if Peter wasn’t there, she still shied away from him, even though there was a counter in between them, “when you didn’t come crawling back to me I thought you’d grown some backbone, not found yourself someone else to pant over.”

Lydia was frozen, her eyes locked on Jackson. She didn’t even want to blink; the coffee shop had gone silent.

“Oh, but this isn’t just _anyone_ is it Lyds?” the nickname made her flinch; her eyes darted to Peter, showing her panic. She was cornered.

“This is _Peter Hale_ isn’t it? A step up for you.” He turned to Peter. “You’re a lucky guy; you’ve met the only person who knows more about you than you do.”

Peter just looked confused.

Jackson laughed.

“She didn’t tell you? Oh this is _brilliant_. Peter Hale, let me introduce Lydia Martin, your _number one fan_.”

Peter just looked at her blankly.

Lydia closed her eyes; she couldn’t look at him anymore.

The game was up now he knew.

“She’s been crushing on you for ages, ever since she saw your stupid wolf show.” There was suddenly warmth radiating all down the right side of her body.

“Good,” Peter’s voice was soft, “otherwise this would be really awkward.”

And with that he tilted her chin up and his lips were suddenly on hers.

The kiss was claiming, but still soft and sweet at the same time, and Lydia couldn’t help but let herself be pulled into it.

Distantly she heard Jackson swear and leave but she really didn’t care.

When they broke apart Lydia was a little dazed, she blinked up at him slowly.

“So, Miss Lydia Martin, would you like to go get coffee sometime?” Lydia looked up into his blue eyes and laughed.

Then she dragged him in for another kiss.

People started clapping and Lydia heard a chorus of ‘finally’ and ‘it’s about time’.

Lydia couldn’t care less to be perfectly honest.

She got her man, and it seemed he had no intention of letting her go.

They were still kissing when Stiles and Derek came back from lunch.

“Uh, did we miss something?” Derek mumbled, going red.

Stiles just joined in clapping with the rest of them.

*****

“Shh.”

“You do realise this is pointless don’t you?”

“Peter, _shut up_.”

“Lydia, you were there when this was _filmed_.” He hissed.

Lydia put her hand over his mouth, “Yeah, but this is the season premiere. We’re gonna watch it on TV and you’re gonna shut up and not ruin this for me.”

She rearranged herself on the couch, draping her legs over Peter’s, settling into the cushions more.

Peter just started running his hands up and down her thighs.

“Okay baby.”

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, hoped you like it! :P  
> As always comments are gold! :D


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